In recent years, concerns have increased regarding accumulation of persistent, lipophilic contaminants by marine mammals. We quantified blood levels of the two most prevalent organochlorine (OC) contaminants of the marine ecosystem in a model species, the harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) from three north-central California populations and a population in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Intensive sampling (n = 190) produced robust quantification of blood concentrations of selected PCBs and DDE, and allowed us to investigate factors affecting levels of these contaminants in seal populations with distinct environments and exposure histories. In the Alaskan samples, PCB and DDE levels were most strongly related to sex and age; OCs increased with age in males and decreased with age in females, likely due to cumulative exposure in males and load-dumping during lactation in females. Among females, an inverse relationship was observed between condition and PCB blood levels. In contrast, in the California seals, in which loads were generally much greater, pups had greater levels of PCBs and DDE than subadults and adults, suggesting stable to decreasing environmental contaminant levels. Spatial heterogeneity and seasonal differences also contributed substantially to variation among harbor seals in contaminant loads. These findings underscore the importance of accounting for demographic, geographic, seasonal, and physiological effects in toxicological studies of marine mammals., Cited By (since 1996):1, ,

Information on the diet of the Marbled Murrelet, Brachyramphus marmoratus, in California is lacking. To assess availability of potential prey, we sampled small fishes at three locations in central California: Año Nuevo Bay, and two sites in northern Monterey Bay. These sites are used seasonally by Marbled Murrelets. Nearshore marine habitats were sampled with a midwater trawl during 2000, 2001, and 2002. We caught 36 taxa of demersal and midwater fish and cephalopods. Numerically dominant species at all sites were northern anchovy, Engraulis mordax, night smelt, Spirinchus starski, and white croaker, Genyonomus lineatus. The occurrence of these fishes concurrent with Marbled Murrelets provides information on potential prey available to Marbled Murrelets in central California., Cited By (since 1996):3

In recent years, population declines related to viral outbreaks in marine mammals have been associated with polluted coastal waters and high tissue concentrations of certain persistent, lipophilic contaminants. Such observations suggest a contributing role of contaminant-induced suppression of cell-mediated immunity leading to decreased host resistance. Here, we assessed the effects of the prototypic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), and two polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), CB-156 and CB-80, on the T-cell proliferative response to mitogen in harbor seal peripheral lymphocytes. Despite the variability associated with our samples from free-ranging harbor seals, we observed a clear suppressive effect of B[a]P (10 uM) exposure on T cell mitogenesis. Exposures to 10 uM CB-156 and CB-80, and 1.0 and 0.1 uM B[a]P, did not produce significant depression in lymphoproliferation. Exposure to the model PAH at 10 uM resulted in a 61% (range 34-97%) average reduction in lymphoproliferation. We were able to rule out a direct cytotoxic effect of B[a]P, indicating that observed effects were due to altered T cell function. Based on our in vitro results, we hypothesize that extensive accumulation of PAH by top-trophic-level marine mammals could alter T cell activation in vivo and impaired cell-mediated immunity against viral pathogens., Cited By (since 1996):12, CODEN: DEIME, ,

The state of the California current, 2006-2007: Regional and local processes dominate,

Description

The state of the California Current System (CCS) between Oregon and Baja California is summarized in this report, covering spring 2006 to spring 2007. Observations reported here are based on contributions from various ocean observing programs along the West Coast of North America. Basin-scale indicators were variable or neutral over the last year. This indeterminate forcing was reflected in conditions in the CCS where no coherent patterns emerged, i.e., no single "state" could be ascribed to the system. Rather, regional or local processes dominated observed patterns. Similar to last year, delayed upwelling off Oregon and central California dramatically affected higher trophic levels: euphausiid recruitment was delayed and as a likely consequence seabird productivity off Central California was extremely depressed. For example, Cassin's auklet had a complete reproductive failure, similar to 2006. Observations during the spring of 2007 demonstrate that these patterns were ephemeral since upwelling was normal and seabird productivity improved. Off southern and Baja California, upwelling-favorable winds were also weak or delayed during 2006, but biological consequences appear to have been relatively minor., Cited By (since 1996):24,
Ecology, ,

To assess the impact of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) on salmon fisheries in the Monterey Bay region of California, the percentages of hooked fish taken by sea lions in commercial and recreational salmon fisheries were estimated from 1997 to 1999. Onboard surveys of sea lion interactions with the commercial and recreational fisheries and dockside interviews with fishermen after their return to port were conducted in the ports of Santa Cruz, Moss Landing, and Monterey. Approximately 1745 hours of onboard and dockside surveys were conducted - 924 hours in the commercial fishery and 821 hours in the recreational fishery (commercial passenger fishing vessels [CPFVs] and personal skiffs combined). Adult male California sea lions were responsible for 98.4% of the observed depredations of hooked salmon in the commercial and recreational fisheries in Monterey Bay. Mean annual percentages of hooked salmon taken by sea lions ranged from 8.5% to 28.6% in the commercial fishery, 2.2% to 18.36% in the CPFVs, and 4.0% to 17.5% in the personal skiff fishery. Depredation levels in the commercial and recreational salmon fisheries were greatest in 1998 - likely a result of the large El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event that occurred from 1997 to 1998 that reduced natural prey resources. Commercial fishermen lost an estimated $18,031-$60,570 of gear and $225,833-$498,076 worth of salmon as a result of interactions with sea lions. Approximately 1.4-6.2% of the available salmon population was removed from the system as a result of sea lion interactions with the fishery. Assessing the impact of a growing sea lion population on fisheries stocks is difficult, but may be necessary for effective fisheries management., Cited By (since 1996):9, CODEN: FSYBA, ,

The infection status of harbor seals Phoca vitulina in central California, USA, was evaluated through broad surveillance for pathogens in stranded and wild-caught animals from 2001 to 2008, with most samples collected in 2007 and 2008. Stranded animals from Mendocino County to San Luis Obispo County were sampled at a rehabilitation facility: The Marine Mammal Center (TMMC, n = 175); wild-caught animals were sampled at 2 locations: San Francisco Bay (SF, n = 78) and Tomales Bay (TB, n = 97), that differed in degree of urbanization. Low prevalences of Salmonella, Campylobacter, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium were detected, in the feces of stranded and wild-caught seals. Clostridium perfringens and Escherichia coli were more prevalent in the feces of stranded (58% [78 out of 135] and 76% [102 out of 135]) than wild-caught (42% [45 out of 106] and 66% [68 out of 106]) seals, whereas Vibrio spp. were 16 times more likely to be cultured from the feces of seals from SF than TB or TMMC (p < 0.005). Brucella DNA was detected in 3.4% of dead stranded harbor seeds (2 out of 58). Type A influenza was isolated from feces of 1 out of 96 wild-caught seals. Exposure to Toxoplasma gondii, Sarcocystis neurona, and type A influenza was only detected in the wild-caught harbor seals (post-weaning age classes), whereas antibody titers to Leptospira spp. were detected in stranded and wild-caught seals. No stranded (n = 109) or wild-caught (n = 217) harbor seals had antibodies to phocine distemper virus, although a single low titer to canine distemper virus was detected. These results highlight the role of harbor seals as sentinel species for zoonotic and terrestrial pathogens in the marine environment., Harbor Seals

Survival probabilities and movements of harbor seals in central California

Description

Article in Press, Harbor seal numbers and population trajectories differ by location in central California. Within San Francisco Bay (SFB) counts have been relatively stable since the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act, but in coastal areas like Tomales Bay (TB), counts increased before stabilizing in the 1990s. Emigration, poor survival, and environmental effects have been hypothesized as contributors to differences between trajectories; however, basic demographic data were not available to evaluate these hypotheses. We monitored 32 radio-tagged adult females (SFB n = 17, TB n = 15) for 20 mo (2011-2013), and estimated survival, resight, and movement probabilities using mark-resight analyses and multistate mark-resight models. Annual survival probability for both sites was 0.90 (95% CI = 0.18-0.99). Six seals were observed moving between locations resulting in an estimated probability of 0.042 (95% CI = 0.023-0.076) per month equal movement between sites. Resight probability was less in SFB relative to TB, likely due to differential haul-out access, area surveyed, visibility, and resight effort. Because of wide confidence intervals and low precision of these first estimates of adult female harbor seal survival in California, this demographic must be further examined to dismiss its contribution to differing population trajectories. Using aerial survey data, we estimated 950 harbor seals in SFB (95% CI = 715-1,184) confirming numbers are still stable.

Recovery of cetacean carcasses provides data on levels of human-caused mortality, but represents only a minimum count of impacts. Counts of stranded carcasses are negatively biased by factors that includes at-sea scavenging, sinking, drift away from land, stranding in locations where detection is unlikely, and natural removal from beaches due to wave and tidal action prior to detection. We estimate the fraction of carcasses recovered for a population of coastal bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), using abundance and survival rate data to estimate annual deaths in the population. Observed stranding numbers are compared to expected deaths to estimate the fraction of carcasses recovered. For the California coastal population of bottlenose dolphins, we estimate the fraction of carcasses recovered to be 0.25 (95% CI = 0.20-0.33). During a 12 yr period, 327 animals (95% CI = 253-413) were expected to have died and been available for recovery, but only 83 carcasses attributed to this population were documented. Given the coastal habits of California coastal bottlenose dolphins, it is likely that carcass recovery rates of this population greatly exceeded recovery rates of more pelagic dolphin species in the region.